The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Berube

The Dark Beneath the Ice

by Amelinda Berube

Marianne is about to discover if nightmares are real.
Something is wrong with Marianne. It's not just that her dad has finally left, or that her life hasn't been the same since she quit dancing. Or even that her mother has checked herself into a hospital.
She's losing time. Doing things she'd never do. And the face in the mirror doesn't look like her own. Marianne's not sure what to believe. Is something after her, or is she following in her mother's footsteps?
Marianne doesn't trust herself, but she does trust the only person in town who's willing to try to help, the daughter of the local physic. But the more the two dig into what's wrong, the more the line between nightmare and reality is blurred. And Marianne has to figure out what's real before she loses everything.

Reviewed by kalventure on

2 of 5 stars

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My initial thoughts when seeing this blurb was "Black Swan meets Paranormal Activity? Don't mind if I do!" Despite being a paranormal skeptic, I cannot get enough of ghost stories; however, The Dark Beneath the Ice missed the mark for me. Drawn in by the premise of missing time and paranormal activity, these elements are very much there but to me that wasn't the main focus of the story. It is as much of a family drama about the breakdown of a family and the struggles of divorce on a family as it is a supernatural story.
The silence still clings to me. If I close my eyes it's there waiting for me, filling my mouth, heavy as water. Ready to swallow me again.
The opening lines captivated me straight away, and it is clear that Bérubé is a talented writer who has a poetic way with words. Unfortunately the initial hook of the book loosened its grip on me and I found the prose almost distracting at times. I found the narrative stilted in a way and slow to get started, full of a lot of back history that I honestly didn't care about.

There is something about the writing style that didn't work for me that I am not able to put my finger on. Typically I love a first-person narrative in thrillers/paranormal books, but it just didn't work for me here. Perhaps because of the family drama? Or the fact that the spooky bits I was looking forward to didn't really get started until much later in the book? I think the blurb had me expecting more of a psychological thriller than a family drama with spooky elements. The ending left me a bit unfulfilled, but I did appreciate the LGBT+ rep present in this book.

This book just wasn't for me but I think that those who enjoy family centered drama with supernatural elements could enjoy this book.

Electronic ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 22 July, 2018: Finished reading
  • 22 July, 2018: Reviewed